Series of fundamental changes have happened in communication culture and technologies. Some twenty years ago mobile devises were introduced to customers for voice communication. Subsequently customers learned also to satisfy their other communication needs using data services on their mobile devices. Also a possibility to use the Internet by mobile devices was introduced.
The next quite obvious step was to extend mobile connectivity beyond human beings. So individuals can nowadays communicate with wireless devices with other individuals, devices or systems. The next step forward was a solution where two or more machines or applications connected thereto are communicating with each other without a human touch by at least partly wireless methods. Those solutions are often called machine-to-machine solutions or shortly by an abbreviation M2M.
Machine-to-machine applications combine features of both the information and telecommunication technology. Some examples of possible applications are: Telemetry: utility meter reading, parking meters; Public traffic services: traffic information, electronic tolling; Sales & payment: vending machines, photocopiers; Service & maintenance: elevators, industrial machines; and solutions in areas of: telematics in vehicles, security and surveillance, telemedicine, fleet management and home applications.
As mentioned above M2M systems can be quite complicated. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system according to the prior art. There is a remote application 15 to or from which all communication must be done trough a wireless terminal 14. In the example of FIG. 1 the terminal 14 is a GSM terminal (Global System for Communications). The GSM terminal 14 resides in a cell which belongs to a GSM network 10. The GSM network 10 is connected to some INTRANET 12, which can be for example a corporate data network, through a gateway 11. Gateway 11 can comprise also a Gateway Access Software. INTRANET 12 includes also a controlling application 13, which is used as a control means for the remote application 15 i.e. the control application is a host to the remote application. This controlling application 13 includes also all connection parameter settings 131 (CPS 1, CPS 2, and CPS n), which the controlling application 13 can utilize in its communication. Which one of the two mentioned applications starts a communication connection depends on a particular situation.
Also the GSM terminal 14 includes its own connection parameter settings 141 (CPS 1, CPS 2 and CPS m). There can be some differences between the connection parameter settings in the GSM terminal 14 and the controlling application 13 located in INTRANET 12.
Next will be illustrated an example how this prior art system functions in an exemplary situation where the controlling application 13 retrieves information from the remote application 15 by exploitation of one of the possible connection parameter settings 131. For sending a command to the remote application 13 the controlling application 13 establishes at first a data transfer connection 111 to the gateway 11. From there the command is routed via a further data connection 101 to the GSM network 10. The command is further routed by a service bearer on a radio channel 103 to the wireless GSM terminal 14. If possible, a default service bearer defined in the CPS settings is used in the data transfer in the radio channel 103 between the core GSM network 10 and GSM terminal 14. Some examples of the possible service bearers are: GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), EGPRS (Edge GPRS), HSCSD (High Speed Circuit Switched Data), CSD (Circuit Switched Data) and SMS (Short message Service).
From the GSM terminal 14 the command is sent for example via a fixed connection 151 or via a proximity connection utilizing Bluetooth or other proximity network technology to the remote application 15. The remote application 15 follows the command it has received. A result of the command can be that the remote application 15 sends some data back to the controlling application 13. This is depicted by an arrow 152. The route back to the controlling application 13 can be the route depicted above in a reversed order. The process ends when the controlling application 13 receives the data sent by the remote application 15.
It is also possible that the remote application 15 is an initiator in a connection setup attempt. In that case the connection setup will be made using a default bearer, which is defined to the remote application 15.
The default connection parameter setting, or in other words the default service bearer, which the GSM terminal 14 uses, can be defined by a command 153 given by the remote application 15 or controlling application 13. In both cases the decision to be made must be done either in the controlling application 13 or remote application 15 but not in the wireless terminal 14, which only follows those orders it has received. This kind of function is possible if in the design phase the application designer has also the capability to implement to the remote application special features, which are connected to the possible service bearers.
So in the prior art the wireless GSM terminal 14 is not allowed to change the bearer service independently. A problem can arise when the default bearer service is not usable for some reason. In that situation the wireless GSM terminal 14 makes useless connection setup attempts which can all fail in the worst case. If the application designer has no taken this situation into account, the data transfer cannot succeed at all. Often the application designer is not capable or willing to design also the communication features needed and that is why the remote application 15 works perfectly only in limited environmental conditions.